The present invention belongs to the field of devices that make it possible to simulate the body or a part of the body of a patient for the testing of an X-ray apparatus.
An X-ray apparatus generally comprises a tube that allows the emission of an X-ray beam in a given direction, means for positioning at least one part of a patient's body in the X-ray beam, and receiving means that sense the X-rays disposed in the beam after it has passed through the patient's body part. An X-ray apparatus requires the control of many parameters that can deviate over the course of time, which requires maintenance interventions at regular intervals. The reduction in the quality of the images obtained by the receiving means can be linked, for example, to slight changes in the geometry of the apparatus due to wear on the parts, or to variations in the magnetic field surrounding the apparatus.
In order to characterize such deviations, it is necessary to obtain a device that makes it possible to simulate the body of a patient. The display of the simulation device on a screen takes place in a way that is identical to that of the patient's body, and makes it possible to reveal possible deviations and thus to determine whether the X-ray apparatus is working with a precision greater than the minimal precision required or whether, on the contrary, the X-ray apparatus should undergo a maintenance operation in order to restore the precision of the images obtained.
Simulation devices of this type are particularly useful in the field of vascular imaging by image subtraction. The blood vessels of the human body being naturally transparent to X-rays, an image is first taken without the addition of an opacifying product, after which an opacfying product, for example iodine-based, is injected into the patient's blood, which makes the blood opaque to X-rays, then a second image is taken after the opacifying product has been properly distributed through the patient's vascular network. The two images or series of images obtained being numbered by electronic means, an image subtraction is then performed, making it possible to remove from the second image the organs visible in the first one, i.e., the organs naturally visible to X-rays such as the bones, etc.
To simulate the body or a part of the body of a patient, it is possible to use a network of flexible conduits through which water, which is quasi-transparent to X-rays, is first circulated in order to perform the first image acquisition, then through which water to which an opacifying product, generally iodine, is added before performing the second image acquisition. Next, the image substraction is performed in order to display the liquid circuit and to determine whether the X-ray apparatus is properly adjusted or, conversely, whether the image obtained has inconsistencies relative to the liquid circuit, whose geometry is known. However, a device of this type requires the utilization of a liquid, which complicates its handling. The iodine used as an opacifying product can cause bright spots, and it makes it necessary to wash the liquid circuit completely after its use. The handling of these simulation devices is therefore complicated, awkward, time-consuming and hence, costly.